Re editing photos

[richiel27273383]

I have been working on some images in LR6 and have been making a perfect white background. I have then finished for a short period closing down and coming out of LR. I then return back to the image to use my erase brush and it won't let me. Do I have to re start again.

[dj_paige]

It's darn near impossible to make a perfect white background using Lightroom, can you share your secret?

What do you mean Lightroom won't let you? State exactly and in great detail what you are doing in Lightroom, and also state exactly what is happening that makes you say it won't let you. Details, details, details ... Lots of details are needed.

[richiel27273383]

firstly thank you all for the reply. Here goes in detail what I have been doing. 1. I open a RAW image go into develop.

2 into basic play around with exposure whites clarity then go to the adjustment brush.

3. I then paint around the model to making the background red with the selected overlay, I then turn this on and off to see what this looks like. After doing this I close the images down and say right do some more later. After a while return open the image to touch up or erase bits I have over done on the model etc and the only two brushes I can then use are just A and B. The erase button won't work and it's as if it's locked the image and the only option it seems is to reset the whole image and start again.

[Rob_Cullen]

the only two brushes I can then use are just A and B. The erase button won't work

With the brush adjustments you made previously, you need to make them 'active' again by clicking on the 'Pin' for each adjustment.

The Active Brush pin shows with a Black center and you can then add more brushing to the image with that 'pinned' location, or hold down the [ALT] key which activates the 'Erase' version of the brush, but only for that active Pin and its adjustment that were previously made.

If you have made several or many separate Brush adjustments you will have many pins on the image ( to Hide or show) and you click a pin to make it active.

If you have just activated a Brush and not done any brushing, then it will not have anything to 'Erase'.

Am I making sense? Check out some tutorials on the Brush.  Lightroom CC - Enhancing Isolated Areas of an Image with the Adjustment Brush - YouTube

[richardplondon]

It should be possible to make an already nearly white background, e.g. a brightly lit white studio backdrop, become more perfectly white - through locally brushed adjustments including Contrast, positive highlights and exposure, etc.

It would not be possible to have LR do this for a background with mixed tones, or one that did not start out more or less evenly white.

This said, it is NOT possible (and I hope the OP is not seeking it) to use a Lightroom brush mask to extract / composite a replacement background. Doing that would involve other software - which would need to make its own mask from scratch - having first rendered and saved the photo into bitmap form.

If that is the eventual plan, you won't need to have first made the background perfect in LR; such dedicated tools can address a less than even background all by themselves.

OTOH if the plan is to make a final output from LR without using other software at all, then the trick will be to have lit and exposed the subject in the first place, in such a way as to maximise the chances of that desired result,

[Rob_Cullen · Accepted solution]

And I am not sure you understand the working of the 'Erase' brush in Lightroom-

It only erases the adjustment applied by the brush that is active.

So if you brush (eg.  -4 exposure), the Erase function deletes the -4 adjustment. It does not delete anything of the image.

Turn on the mask overlay   to preview the area where the Brush is applied (or the BRUSH stroke is erased).

[richiel27273383]

Thank you for your reply.

I know this, and have been asked by DJ to explain in detail what I am doing with my image please see my response to DJ. And hopes this corrects my vague question.

[richiel27273383]

Thank you will try that. I have 7 out of the 151 images to edited so will practice on them.